Process of impermeabilizing, tightening, or consolidating grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures



Patented Sept. 7, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- PROCESS OFIMPERIWEABILIZING, TIGHT- ENING, OR OONSOLIDATING GROUNDS AND OTHEREARTHY AND STONY MASSES AND STRUCTURES Gerrit Hendrik van Leeuwen,Amsterdam, Nethe'rlands, assignor to Shell Development Company, SanFrancisco, 0

Delaware alif., a corporation of No Drawing. Original applicationSeptember 18, 1936, Serial No. 101,426. Divided and this ap-' plicationFebruary 23, 1940, Serial No. 320,427.

In the Netherlands October 7, 1935 5 Claims.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No.101,426, filed September 18, which issued as Patent 2,197,843 April 23,

The invention concerns a process for improving the cohesion of and forimpermeabilizing and consolidating grounds and other earthy masses,-such as subsoil sand or gravel layers, natural and artificial rocks,masonry or concrete structures,

stone dumpings, pile works and the like, by filling up and tighteningthe voids, cavities, fissuresand such like interruptions of the mass.The present process may be applied, for example, for

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providing screens impervious or substantially impervious to water andgases in porous. and

water-bearing soils, tightening seeping dikes,

tunnels or cellar walls, consoliating loose soils, such as those forfoundations or'dike bodies, fixing masses of bog, river beds or shiftingsands,

- tightening cracks and fissures in rock formations,

sealingjoints in stone-settings and concrete, filling up and unitingstone-dumpings either before, during or after construction, sealingwells or borehole walls, such as in the winning of petroleum oil. 1

It is already known for the said purposes to treat the ground or othermass with impregnating mineral oils, oil fractions and residues, taroils and the like. Such repellent substances are in-v dicatedhereinafter as hydrophobic.

-Where, however, the solvating agent consists of organic liquids, suchas oils, hydrocarbons, chlostance in most'instances water or an aqueousliquid.

The process according to the invention can be carried out indifferentways and with the use of various substances, according to the prevailingconditions and the effect to be obtained. Some embodiments of theinvention are described hereagents of various kinds, such as aqueousbitumen I dispersions, cement or clay suspensions andprecipitate-forming chemicals.

The process according to the inventionconsists in supplying into thevoids of the masses to' be treated a substance which is capable ofswelling through a solvating agent, the particles of which substance arecoated with. a substance repelling the solvating agent; the swelling ofthe said particles being efiected in the'mass under treatment byattracting, orabsorbing, or combining with, or wetting by the saidsolvating agent.

Where the solvating agent consists of water or an aqueous solution ordispersion, the swellable substance may comprise either inorganic ororganic hydrophile colloids. Among inorganic hydrophile colloids thatmay be used are the more or less colloidal kinds of clays, hydroxides ofpolyvalent metals, sillcic acid, aluminates or other salts capable ofswelling with water or of form-- ing liquid crystals. Among organichydrophile colloids that-may be used are polysaccharides,

such as cellulose or starch, gum arabic, agaragar, lipoids, proteins,suchas 'caseinor albumen, organic dyestufis and the like. sub.-

stances repelling the solvating agent, such as water, which are to beused in combination with hydrophile colloids, are particularly oils,such as inafter more in detail. I

The swellable substance, for instance, a hydrophile colloid, may besuspended in a hydrophobic substanceand the said suspension is caused topenetrate, either together with or without the solvating agent, into theobject or mass to be treated; similarly use can be made of an oleophilecolloid suspended in an oleophobic substance and applied either togetherwith or without the solvating agent. The particles of the hydrophile oroleophilecolloid may also be coated only with a thin film, such asanadsorption film of a hydrophobic or oleophobic substance, in which casea carrier or suspending agent is required, which at the same time mayact as the solvating agent.

. Further, the above embodiments may be combined, when, 'for instance,the hydrophobic substance going with the hydrophile colloid is thesolvating agent for the oleophile colloid, and/or the oleophobicsubstance going with the oleophile colloid is the solvating agent forthe hydrophile colloid.

The properties of the hydrophobic substance, when using a hydrophilecolloid, or the properties of the oleophobic substance, when using anoleophile colloid, render it possible to control the rate of solvation.This control may be effected;

for instance, by suitable selection as to the nature and .quan'tity ofthe hydrophobic or oleophobic substance in connection with the natureand" quantity of the respective hydrophile or oleophile The treating.agents according to the invention may be applied according to theprocesses generally used for introducing the known impregnating agentsinto earthy or stony masses.

As a rule the treating agent or agents may be caused to penetrate intothe mass to be treated by means of pipes, so that a proper impregnationis effected at the required place, whereby the desiredimpermeabilisation or consolidation is produced.

The treating agents may be injected or pumped in under normal orincreased pressure, the pressure applied being, if desired, so high asto produce a widening of the voids with a view to ensuring a moreeflicient penetration of the liquids. Themass to be treated may alsobesubjected, either beforehand or simultaneously, to -a separatetreatment for altering its structureor the chemical constitution of thematerial to be impregnated, for example by injecting suitable liquids orgases, or by washing out some soil components or removing them inanother manner.

The process according to .the invention may, if desired, be combinedwith other known consolidating and impermeabilising processes, such asthe application of bitumen dispersions, cement or clay suspensions, orchemicals which by mutual reaction form voluminous precipitates. Moreparticularly, the practicability of said known processes may beimproved'by combining them with the present process. For instance,

in carrying out the so-called silicatisation process, according to whichconsolidation and impermeabilisation is produced by the separateinjection of solutions of aluminium sulphate or calcium chloride, andwaterglass, as a rule clogging up immediately occurs at the place ofintroduction, owing to rapid precipitation.

Theprocess according to the invention may also be carried out bysuccessively injecting mixtures showing different rates of solvation;this may be advantageous, for instance, in those cases Where flushingaway of the injected liquids bl" their structure by biological, chemicalor other actions.

In the following example some special embodiments of the invention ,.aredescribed although the application of the invention is not restricted tothese examples. All the percentages and ratios are by weight.

. Example 1 A colloidal clay, such as bentonite in substantially drycondition, is coated with a film con-,

sisting of about A; of its weight of an extract obtained inthe treatmentof kerosene with liquid sulphur dioxide (commonly referred to asEdeleanu extract). The clay thus coated is then suspended in a 5-fold,quantity oi water. The said mixture is injected at a suitable depthinto a sand soil by means of pipes drilled at suitable distances fromone another. the slow, progressive swelling of the oil-coated clayparticles owing to the adsorption of water, a coherent mass imperviousto water is produced.

The swelling of the clay in the mixture can, ii. desired, be stillfurther retarded by adding to the above named extract astrongly'water-repellent substance, such as anthrace'ne oil, and/or byacidifying the water. on the 'other hand the swelling of the clay can bepromoted by adding to the said extract a less water-repellent substance,such as gasoline, and/or by alkalising the water, or by adding a solublesubstance, such as alcohol, to the said extract or to the water.

Example 2 With a view to consolidating the core of a railway dike,consisting of coarse sand and gravel, sets of two concentrical pipes aredrilled into the dike body at suitable distances.- Through the outerpipe is injected an aqueous dispersion of casein (the casein havingfirst been moistened by the addition of 10% of a lubricating oilfraction rich in aromatics) and simultaneously a 0.5% soda lye isinjected through the inner pipe. If pure water were to be used as thesolvating agent, the rate and degree of swelling of the casein would betoo low, whilst with alkaline water a considerable acceleration andincrease of the swelling is achieved.

Example 3 For fixing a river bed consisting of sand, the

. bed is covered in instalments by a caisson or bellshaped appliance,the edge of which is allowed to sink to a certain depth into the sand. Amixture consisting of one part of rubber latex and four parts of amixture of kerosene and 20% benzene is pumped into this bell on top ofthe sand. Such a quantity of this mixture is applied as to produce animpregnation down to some decimetres below the surface of the river bed.Swelling is caused by the gradualabsorption of the oil by the rubberparticles. If desred, vulcanising agents, accelerators, fillers, etc.may be'added to the mixture.

Example 4 If desired, instead of applying the above com- 4 positionsseparately, ,also a previously prepared mixture of lOO'parts'cement,clay or the like, 50 parts petroluem residue thinned with gas oil and 20parts of a 20% rubber latex or of a 20% aqueous dispersion or ironnaphthenate, aluminium palmitate or the like, may be injected.

By first adding 1% of casein to the latex the swelling of the mass canbe retarded.

As a result of- I Example parts of a 0.3% aqueous soap solution, towhich dispersion 100 parts of a filler, such as finely ground stonepowder, barytes, clinker or the like,

are added.

Example 6 A water-bearing gravel layer is treated by simultane'ously butseparately injecting through Example 7 In order to cover the bank of aswiftly flowing river with a coherent stone setting use is made of equalparts of gravel and sand, to which 10% of solvating agent for saidsubstance to swell the same upon contact therewith, the said swellablesubstance being surrounded, during its introduction into the masses, bya material of such character as to inhibit the swelling action of thesaid solvating agent.

2. A process for improvingthe cohesion of and for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures,comprising impregnating the masses with a suspension of a swellablesubstance in a liquid carrier, said carrier being capable of acting as aa% rubber latex and of an extract obtained in the treatment of spindleoil with liquid sulphur dioxide, are added. The said mixture constitutesa readily pourable mass, which is applied with the aid of gutters on thestone setting and allowed to sink onto the bank and the river bottom soas to produce a watertight protective covering.

Example 8 In-order to consolidate-the base of a dune, pipes are drilledinto the sand at a shallow depth, and

a mixture of one part of finely powdered. aluconsiderable depth andwidth of injection.

, I claim:

1. A process for improvingthe cohesion of'and for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds and other earthy and stony masses and struc-Jsolvating agent for said substance to swell the same upon contacttherewith, the said swellable substance being covered with a film of amaterial to retard the swelling action of said solvating agent.

3. A process for improving the cohesion of and for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds and other earthy and stonymasses and structures,comprising impregnating the masses with a suspension of a plurality ofsubstances in a liquid carrier, said carrier being capable of acting asa solvating agent for said substances to swell the same upon contacttherewith, the saidswellable substances being surrounded, during theirintro duction into the masses, by a material of such character astoinhibit the swelling action of the solvating agent, said swellablesubstances having different rates of solvation. 4. A process forimproving the cohesion of and for impermeabilizing and consolidating,grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures, comprisingimpregnating the masses with a suspension of a swellable hydrophilecolloid in an aqueous carrier, said carrierbeing capable of acting as asolvating agent'for said hydrophile colloid to swell the same uponcontact therewith,

tures, comprising impregnating the masses with a suspension or aswellable substance in a liquid the hydrophile colloid being surrounded,during its introduction into the' masses, with a hydrophobic substanceto retard the swelling of the and other earthy and stony masses andstructures, comprising impregnating the masses with a suspension of aswellable hydrophile colloid in an aqueous carrier, said carrier beingcapable of acting as a solvating agent for said hydrophile colloid toswell the same upon contact therewith, the hydrophile colloid beingcovered with a film of a hydrophobic substance to retard the swellingaction of the aqueous solvating agent upon the hydrophile colloid.

GERRIT HENDRIK VAN 'LEEUWEN.

